Sabita Mahato cries off Jamshedpur LS seat contest

Sabita Mahato, widow of senior JMM leader and former Deputy Chief Minister of Jharkhand Sudhir Mahato, is unwilling to contest the Lok Sabha poll from Jamshedpur constituency for personal reasons.

Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren told this to reporters today after a 45-minute one-to-one session with Sabita Mahato at her Uliyan residence here.

The Chief Minister said that the party would contest from four seats in Jharkhand, including Jamshedpur.

"Weighing suggestions made by party leaders and workers as well as an assessment made by the party, we wanted to field Sabita Mahato from Jamshedpur where JMM has a strong base and won the seat for four times in the past. However, she refused to contest," Soren said.

Former Deputy Chief Minister Sudhir Mahato had died after a massive heart attack when he had gone to attend a function at Copper township in Musaboni on February 20 last.

To a query that several disgruntled party leaders had switched over to other parties over allotment of party tickets, Soren did not respond, but said nothing had been finalised and party supremo Shibu Soren would announce names of candidates on March 11.

Asked about the alliance with Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik-led Biju Janata Dal, Soren said the party supremo would take a call on the issue soon.

The JMM is also considering contesting some seats in Bihar, he said.

Referring to the killing of AJSU party leader, Tileshwar Sahu in Barhi, Hazaribagh, yesterday, Soren advocated for a thorough enquiry by a proper investigative agency and said the government might recommend a CBI inquiry.